3 dynamics that high-performance innovation teams use

There is a fairly widespread idea that innovation occurs in specific spaces, almost isolated from the rest of the organization. Laboratories, Hubs, experimental areas with their own methodologies and languages that sometimes seem alien to the day-to-day business. However, when you look closely at how high-performance innovation teams work, the reality is much simpler and, above all, more replicable.

You don't have to be an innovation lab to work like one. Teams that innovate consistently don't do so because they have more resources, but because they have incorporated concrete dynamics that help them think better, decide more judiciously and solve complex problems without falling into paralysis. At Santalucía Impulsa we see it every day working with startups, universities and internal teams. Beyond specific projects, what makes the difference is the way we work.

These are three Dynamics that appear on a recurring basis in high-performance teams and that any department can incorporate, regardless of its function or size.

1. Exploring the extremes

One of the most common pitfalls in decision-making is to always move in the middle zone. Seek reasonable, consensual solutions that don't bother anyone too much. The teams of innovation high-performance performers do just the opposite: before converging, they force divergence.

Exploring extremes involves considering apparently opposing or even uncomfortable scenarios. For example: “What would happen if we completely eliminated this process? What if we made it radically more complex? What if we designed the solution with the worst possible case or the most demanding user in mind?”. This exercise does not seek definitive answers, but rather to expand the field of vision, but it is not a dynamic reserved for creative profiles, but rather it is a structured form of critical thinking that helps to make better decisions even in very operational contexts.

2. Limit to create

Contrary to popular belief, creativity does not arise from absolute freedom. It emerges from well-thought-out restrictions. High-performing teams know this and use limitations as a creative lever, not as an obstacle.

Limiting to create is to deliberately introduce time, resource, or scope limits. That is, designing a solution in ten minutes, solving a problem without additional budget, or proposing an improvement without changing existing technology. These limitations force us to prioritize, simplify and focus on what is essential.

In addition, they reduce one of the great enemies of everyday innovation: paralysis by analysis. This dynamic is especially useful in teams that feel that innovation always involves big projects that never get started.

3. Disassemble before upgrading

Another common practice in high-performance innovation teams is to resist the temptation to directly improve what already exists. Before optimizing, they disassemble. They analyze processes, products or decisions as if they were separate pieces, not as an untouchable whole.

This process also involves asking uncomfortable questions. Among them, “What does this step really exist for? What problem did it solve at the beginning? Does it still make sense today?”. By separating the elements of a system, it becomes visible what provides value and what remains only by inertia.

This dynamic is especially powerful because it prevents cosmetic improvements. Instead of adding layers, it allows you to redesign from the root. And it doesn't require major reengineering exercises. It is enough to spend time understanding before acting. Something that, paradoxically, tends to save a lot of time later.

More than techniques, a way of working

These dynamics are no substitute for large innovation projects or long-term strategies. Their value lies elsewhere because they are able to create a mentality, a way of approaching everyday problems with more judgment, more agility and less fear of Question what has been established.

When these practices are integrated into everyday life, innovation ceases to be a one-off event and becomes a distributed capacity. Teams start training the way they think, not just what they do. And that's what allows ambitious projects to thrive when they arrive.